Structural joint



Feb. 18, 1930. A. GOLDENSTAR STRUCTURAL JOINT Filed Sept. 28. 1928 .5 pm aw f y Patented Feb. 1 ,1930

ARTHUR, GoLnENS'JlAn, or DULUTH, MINNESOTA STRUCTURAL some Applicationfiled September 28,1928. Serial No. 309,067.

This invention relates to joints or connecting devices and isillustrated herein as embodied in a devicesuitable for use in connectingmetal bracing elements to an upright sup' ,5 porting-element. Adevice ofthis-character is'susceptible to being employed in avariety .of uses, asfor example, in securing braces to metal fence posts, 111 similarlysecuring together the structural member of bridges, lobuildings, etc. 7a

- It isoften desirable in the erection of metal structures ,to brace asupporting member from a number of. difierent directions and to this endvarious means and," devices have 15 heretofore been employed. -Guywires, for example, are old and well-known in the art,

I butinmany instances they are unsatisfactory 'byjreaso'n of thefactthey are not strong I enoughto meet and withstand the demands s20imposed upon them inaheavy building structure. It is also acommonexpedient to brace a supporting member by means of beams orgridersextending downwardly and outwardly from a point adjacent to thetop of the sup-' :2? porting member, 'yet heretofore" these heavy braceshavelikewise been open toa number of difierentobjections; for example,if several bracing members, extending from different directions, areconnected directly to the upi 3.0 right member, they interfere seriouslydur ing the subsequent operation of attaching to the upright member thestructure intended tobe' supported thereby, and, in many in stances, it.is impossiblesatisfactorily to con- .35 neat the bracing membersdirectly'to the supporting member. Thus, where all of the membersconsistofangle bars, aflange to flange connectionmaybe effected betweenasupporting barand a plurality of the bracing 40 bars in'suchamanner-that the upper end por' tions' of thebracing members are disposedWithin the'a faces ofthe supporting bar, in which condigular recess ofthe supporting bar, but sincethe angle bar has only two N inner-flangefaces extending at right angles .to one-another, only those bracingba'r's ex-' tion it is almost impossible to connect the members Withoutplacing them flange to flange with outer flange faces of the members ,incontact with each other. In this position flanges of the bracing membersextend outwardly, at right angles to the outer flange faces of thesupporting member thereby presenting an awkward and unsightlyconnection; In fact, when the bracing members are connected thuswise,they occupy considerable space, and interfere with the attachment to thesupporting member of the materials or structure intendedto be supportedthereby.

Thus, in heretofore connecting a supportingmember, angular incross-section, with a plurality of bracing members, also angular incross-section, it has beenimpossible to align the supporting member withbracing members extending in opposite directions therefrom. This, byreason of'the fact that the brace connected to an inside flange face ofthe supporting member, is necessarily offset from, and hence out ofalignment with the oppositely extending bracewhich is, perforceconnected to an outsideflange face of the sup- 7 porting member. 7

In view of the foregoing considerations. the invention has for animportant object thereof the provision ofan improved article ofmanufacture comprising a connection or jointadapted, for use insecuring'flanged bracing members to flanged supporting members, and forother similar uses. In the illustratedembodiment of the invention, thearticle comprises arectangular bracket for attachment to a flange of asupporting member and to a flange of a bracing member, and an armextending at right angles from the bracket and adapted for attachment toone of the flanges of the supporting mem ber and the bracing member notengaged by the bracket. v v j An important featureof the inventionconsists in constructing the bracket andbracket arm of the joint in sucha manner that when in use, a flanged bracing member held by the jointwill be in alignment with a flanged supporting member also heldby thejoint, and-will additionally be aligned with another flanged bracingmember extending from an opposite direction and secured flange to flangewith the supporting member. The importance of such a feature has alreadybeen pointed out.

In another aspect, a feature of the invention consists in the provisionof a structural assemblage in which a flangedsupporting member is bracedfrom opposite'directions by means of flanged bracing members,connected'to the supporting member in such a manner that the lattermember and the bracing members are aligned with each other.

Other features and objects of the invention will become apparent from areading of the following specification in the light of the accompanyingdrawings in which Figure 1 shows in plan view, a support plurality ofop-: 7 ing member.

ing member braced from a posite v dlrectlons; c

. Figure 2 is an enlarged plan View of thesupporting member of Figure 1and of fragments of the bracing members showing the manner in whichthebracing members are member of a type which comprises a plu-' ralityof angularly disposed flanges; the

flanges in these members are generally dis posed at right angles to oneanother and the members themselves are commonly termed angle bars.Supporting members of this type are employed in a great variety of uses,

' and quite often it is desirable or even essential that the members besupplied with a plurality of braces extending from oppo site directions.The braces employed are generally similar in design to the supportingmember and in Figure 2 there is shown a plurality of bracing members 12,14, 16 and 18 arranged to brace the upright 10 from all four directions.

Now in connecting the braces to the supporting member, the inside flangefaces: of the supporting member may be utilized in providing flan'ge toflange connections between the supporting member and the braces 12 and14, the ends of which rest within theangular.

recess of the supporting member. Bolts or other suitable fasteners 20and 22 may be employed for the purpose of securing respectively theflanges of the braces 12 and 14 to the flanges of, the supporting member10., It will be seen that the two bracing members connected in thismanner fit snugly within the angular recess of the member 10 and thatthe side edges of the bracing members do not project beyond the sideedgesof the supporting member, which is'to isay, thatthe member 12 isdisposed between a plane BB, within which lies an outer flange surfaceof the supporting member 10, and a plane AA, which passes parallel tothe plane BB and includes anedge'of the other of the flanges, aliasclearlys'hown in Figure 2. Similarly,the bracing member 14 which isconnected to the other inner flange surface is disposed entirely betweenplanes defined bythe lines C-C and D-D.

Thus, itwill be seen that two of the bracing members may beconveniently-secured to the supporting member 10 without their edges.

projecting beyond the edges of the support- If, however, it isdesired'tobrace the support 10 by means of the members 16 and 18extendingoppositely to the members 12 and 14, axlifiicult problem ispresented, and it will be found impossible to connect the members 16 and 18directly to" the supporting member 10 without producing at the same time,a'connection that is awkward, bulky, andiunsightly. For the only mannerin which the braces 16 and 18can be directlysecured to the support 10 isby means 7 of a flange to flange (connection such, for example, as thatillustrated in Figure 5,

wherein. the member 18 is shown connected I V in a flange to flangerelationship with; the

support, in which position the brace 18 lies completely withoutthe spaceincluded between the planes CC and D- D.

In order to provide 'means'whereby the j braces 16 and :18 may beconveniently'and efliciently secured to the outerrflange faces of I thesupport 10 in such a manneras to lie within the spaces between, planesAA. B-B, and'C C, DD. There is provided a connection or joint-24fof atype clearly il-- lustrate-d in Figure4. 'As shown in the latterflgure,the j oint' comp'rises'a flat rectangue lar bracket havingoppositely extending connecting portions 26 and 28 and apertured at 30,32 and 34 to receive fasteners.-- An arm 36 apertured at 38 extendsoutwardly at right anglesto the bracket from the center of one side,thearm being formed integrally with the bracket. In-use, the brace 16 ispositioned in proximity to the supporting member 10with'outerflangesurfaces of the supporting member and the bracevdisposedin the same plane, and, with the brace so held, the joint 24 is mountedto connect the brace to the supporting'member. When,

this is done, the connecting portion ofthe bracket is secured't-oanouter'flange faceof the, support by means of the bolt 20 extend- 1 ingthrough the aperture 30 and the brace is secured to the bracket by meansof a bolt 40 (Figures 2 and 3) extending through the aperture 38andthrough a similar aperture formed in the end of the brace 16, anaperture of this latter type being shown at 412 in Figure 2. Asupplementary securing bolt 44 is arranged to extend through theaperture 32 and thence through a similar aperiture formed in the flangeof the brace 16.

When the brace has been connected to the support in this manner, it isdisposed, as will be observed in Figure 2, in alignment with the brace12 and the support 10, and between the vertical planes defined by thelines A-A and BB. Thebrace 18 may be secured to the support in a manneridentical to that in which the brace 16 is secured, and accordingly nodetailed description of the mounting of the brace '18 will be given.

It isto be observed that the opposite end 7 portions of 26 and 28 of thebracket are of equal dimensions whereby the joint may be used inconnecting the brace 16, to the support 10, or may be reversed end forend, and utilized in securing in place an oppositely extending brace.

' It will be often found desirable to have the bracing members 12, 14,16 and 18 extend approximately horizontal or to lift them to an elevatedposition during their erection and in order to procure for theseelements the greatest degree of vertical swinging movement, the bracketarm 36 (which is provided for the purpose of increasing the strength ofthe joint) is offset from the side edge of the bracket as indicated bythe reference numeral 48- in Figure 4. This offsetting does not weakenthe joint and insures the greatest amount of movement between themembers of the assemblage. 7

Although the invention has been described herein with particularreference to angle bar members, it is to be understood that theinvention contemplates employment in connection with flange structuralelements of other types and that it also contemplates employment'invarious structural organizations, as for example, br1dges,bu1ld1ngs,metal fences, etc. Likewlse, it is to be understood that the inventioncontemplates varying somewhat the shape and character 0 f the joint in;order to accommodate the joint to -various uses andto various. othertypes'of structural tural elements, and a bracket arm extending from thebracket at an angle corresponding to "the angle between the plurality ofangularly disposed surfaces of one of the structural elements, saidbracket arm being provided with a fastening receiving aperture for usein at taching the arm to a surface of the structural elements disposedadjacent to the surface to which is attached the bracket.

2. A structural assemblage having, in combination, a supporting membercomprising a plurality of flanges disposed at an angle to one another, aplurality of bracing members of the same shape and construction as thesupporting member and adapted to extend thereto from oppositedirections, one of the bracing members being secured flange to flangewith the supporting member, and a joint adapted to secure the oppositelydisposed bracing member to the supporting member in such a manner thatthe supporting member and both of the oppositely disposed bracingmembers are in alignment with one another.

3. A structural assemblage having, in combination,.a supporting membercomprising a plurality of flanges disposed at an angle to one another, aplurality of bracing members of the same shape and construction as thesupporting member and adapted to extend members without departing in anywise from v the scope of the invention. I

Having thus described invention, what I claimv as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is: v I

1. A structural assemblage having, in combination, a plurality ofstructural elements each of which is'provided with a plurality ofsurfaces disposed in "angular relation with one another, and astructural joint adapted to connect said elements, said joint comprisingan elongated bracket provided with a plurality of symmetrically spacedfastening receiving apertures therein for use in attaching the bracketto a face of both of the struc-

